Photographing a destination wedding is very different than photographing a wedding in another country where the couple are locals, as was the case with Mariska and David’s wedding in Amsterdam. You are surely wondering how we ended up in the Netherlands for a wedding so here is the long story short-ish:

David, the groom, is a wedding photographer and an Australian (like Craig!) but he lives in The Netherlands. He was planning his wedding to Mariska when he met Craig in Australia (are you still following this?) and Craig volunteered one of his photographers to go to Amsterdam as a second photographer for Mariska and David’s wedding (they had already arranged for the super talented Ronny Rozenberg to be the main photographer). Craig mentioned it to me and I begged and pleaded to go until Craig relented.

The wedding day itself was the only day without rain for the entire week. It was a little intimidating at first because I was sure I would run in to traditions that I wasn’t used to as an American (Cake right after the ceremony? That’s my kind of tradition!). But I quickly realized that Mariska and David’s families are some of the most lovely and welcoming people you will ever meet and those qualities extended to their friends as well. I started out with Mariska getting ready at her home while Ronny was with David. After they saw each other for the first time, we drove to the school where Mariska is a teacher. All the kids in her class were lined up dressed as brides and grooms in home made hats and veils. They sang songs and had a mini wedding ceremony followed by a walk through the schoolyard where all of the kids in the school had lined up to greet them. From there we followed them in their gorgeous antique Porsche convertible to a beautiful park overlooking the water close to where Mariska had grown up for couples pictures. The ceremony and reception were in the heart of Amsterdam at the oldest hotel in the city, right along a canal. There many magical and wonderful things that happened at this wedding; so many that I could never cover them all here. Suffice it to say that it was one of the best experiences I’ve had as a wedding photographer and I know Mariska and David will have a wonderful happy life together.